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PRETORIA, South Africa - The murder trial of Oscar Pistorius, set to open Monday, marks the start of a dramatic new chapter in the life of the double-amputee athlete who ran at the Olympics and became a global star before he shot his girlfriend to death. Prosecutors charged the 27-year-old Pistorius with murder in Reeva Steenkamps death and say it was with premeditation. They say they will seek a life sentence if Pistorius is convicted, the sternest punishment available in South Africa. South Africa no longer has the death penalty. The intense public interest in the Pistorius trial is shown by the launching Sunday night of a 24-hour cable channel devoted to covering the court case. If convicted on the murder charge, Pistorius could be sent to prison for at least 25 years before the chance of parole, the minimum time someone must serve if given a life sentence in South Africa. He would be older than 50 before he could be released. The state says Pistorius intentionally killed Steenkamp at his home in the pre-dawn hours of Valentines Day last year by shooting her through a toilet door after an argument. Pistorius denies murder and says he killed his girlfriend by mistake when he fired four times through the door thinking there was a dangerous nighttime intruder on the other side. A lesser sentence is possible if Pistorius is found guilty of murder but without premeditation. He also could be convicted of culpable homicide, South Africas version of manslaughter in which someone is killed through negligence. Pistorius claims he was acting in self-defence against what he believed at the time was a threat to his life. As well as murder, Pistorius faces a second charge of illegal possession of ammunition for bullets found at his Pretoria house that he allegedly didnt have proper licensing for. Prosecutors say he also will be indicted Monday with two more gun charges relating to him allegedly shooting in public on two separate occasions before Steenkamps killing. The serving of an updated indictment to Pistorius in court is expected to be the first move at the trial at Pretorias high court. He has not yet been formally served with the papers that include all four charges against him, although his lawyers have had the papers and details of the additional gun charges since last year, prosecutors say. The gun charges reportedly relate to him allegedly shooting out the sunroof of a car in one incident and another when he allegedly fired a gun inside a restaurant, apparently by mistake. Those incidents happened in the court jurisdiction of the city of Johannesburg, not where Steenkamp was killed in Pretoria, and prosecutors applied to have the two charges included and heard at his murder trial. Female judge Thokozile Masipa will ultimately pronounce the champion runner innocent or guilty and will decide on any sentence. South Africa has no trial by jury. Parts of the trial will be broadcast on live television, both in South Africa and across the world, and hundreds of reporters are expected to descend on North Gauteng High Court in the South African capital for the start of the trial. The 24-hour cable channel devoted solely to the trial will continue until the case is finished. The trial will deal with the bloody killing of a 29-year-old model and law graduate, but also the issue of gun ownership and South Africas problem of violent crime, which Pistorius says was the reason why he kept his licensed 9 mm handgun under his bed. Pistorius says his fear of crime was why he fired four shots through the door, hitting Steenkamp three times — in the head, elbow and hip. Prosecutors maintain he was simply angry with her after an argument. Members of Pistorius family will likely attend the trial, as they did on his previous court hearings. His uncle, Arnold Pistorius, sister Aimee and brother Carl are all also listed as state witnesses. "We love Oscar, and believe in him, and will be standing by him throughout the coming trial," Arnold Pistorius said in a statement over the weekend. For the first time, members of Steenkamps family will also be in the courtroom according to a family statement that her mother June and others would be at the trial. The parents and close relatives of Steenkamp did not attend any of Pistorius previous court appearances. "All we are looking for is closure and to know that our daughter did not suffer on that tragic Valentines Day," Steenkamps parents said in a statement this month and days before the one-year anniversary of the shooting that stunned South Africa. Nike Air Max 270 Womens Discount . - The New York Rangers have momentum, a unified locker room and Henrik Lundqvist. 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Air Max 270 Just Do It White .Martin Caceres marked his return from injury by scoring in the 3-1 win at Napoli and he believes Juventus sent out a warning to the rest of the league with that result.We go out on the pitch every game looking to give our all, Caceres said.GENEVA - A Qatari whistleblower has lodged a complaint about her treatment in the World Cup bid corruption report by FIFAs judge, and an Australian woman who gave evidence during the investigation has complained about the denigration of the pair.Former Qatar bid worker Phaedra Almajid told The Associated Press on Monday that she wrote to FIFA prosecutor Michael Garcia about judge Joachim Eckert breaching her right to witness confidentiality. It was sent late Sunday to the email address at the Manhattan law firm where Garcia is a partner.In the letter of complaint, which has been seen by the AP, she wrote that Eckert falsely discredits me in order to support his indefensible conclusion that the December 2010 bidding was wholly acceptable.Bonita Mersiades, who worked on Australias bid for the 2022 World Cup and gave evidence to Garcia under the condition of anonymity, added to the criticism in an article for the Guardian newspaper on Tuesday.It says much about FIFA and those inside their tent that they felt it necessary to engage in a denigration of the two women who had been courageous enough to say something, Mersiades wrote. It is one thing to discount our discussions and the evidence - an investigator is entitled to do that - but it is extraordinary to single out two individuals and detail (mostly incorrectly) the contact with Mike Garcia, especially when we were assured in writing and in person that our dealings with him were confidential.Almajid and Mersiades protests adds to a chaotic response since Thursday when FIFA released Eckerts summary of the Garcia investigation into corruption in the 2018 and 2022 World Cup bidding contests won by Russia and Qatar, respectively.Both Russia and Qatar have always denied any wrong-doing.Garcia himself said his was work was misrepresented by Eckert and appealed to FIFA. He is challenging the German judges decision to close the case because problematic wrong-doing by candidates was of limited scope and did not justify reviewing the votes by FIFAs executive committee.Almajid gave evidence to Garcia alleging wrong-doing by Qatars bid when she was its head of international media until early 20110.ddddddddddddShe said Eckerts report denounced her as unreliable in a crude, cynical and fundamentally erroneous summary of her co-operation.My co-operation was based on your promise of confidentiality, Almajid wrote to Garcia.Though not named by Eckert in his 42-page document, Almajid was easily identified — in a section covering Qatar titled Role and Relevance of a Whistleblower — from her previous public statements. She was named in a July 2011 statement in which she retracted her claims of corruption, but later said she was coerced to do so by Qatari bid officials.Almajids most serious allegation was aired by a British Parliamentary committee in May 2011, that African members of FIFAs ruling board were paid $1.5 million to vote for Qatar in a five-nation contest.She also made allegations to Garcia of Qatars $1.8 million sponsorship of an African football meeting in Angola in 2010, and how the Aspire Academy in Doha was used to further the emirates campaign.Still, Eckert wrote that Garcias investigation report concluded that it appeared that the (whistleblower) source has altered evidence to support its allegations.Almajid said speaking out had jeopardized the safety of herself and her two sons.I have taken great personal risks to stand up for the truth in a highly politicized atmosphere, she wrote to Garcia. However I have found myself betrayed and denigrated for being courageous enough to come forward with critical information.Garcia must now decide whether to use Almajids complaint to prosecute a case against his ethics committee co-chairman for unethical behaviour.Mersiades, who has written but not yet published a book on her experience during the World Cup bid, said she was asked to participate in Garcias investigations, and felt the responsible thing to do was to share with him what I knew and what I had observed; I explained to him up front that I had no smoking gun but lines of inquiry that might be useful, depending on what else he learned.Eckert and Garcia are scheduled to meet this week for talks to resolve their rift. They should also co-operate on ongoing prosecutions against individual FIFA voters. ' ' '